Clinton, Christie top '16 poll

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, would pose a formidable challenge to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a 2016 presidential matchup, a new poll finds.

According to a survey from Public Policy Polling, Clinton leads Christie 44 percent to 42 percent in a hypothetical 2016 race — within the margin of error of the poll. She bests other possible GOP contenders by double digits, the survey noted: She was ahead of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 51 percent to 37 percent, of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio 51 percent to 37 percent and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan 53 percent to 39 percent.

PPP said Rubio led the Republican primary field for the GOP presidential nomination with 21 percent support, followed by Ryan with 16 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 15 percent, and Bush and Christie with 14 percent. Clinton had 57 percent of the backing for the Democratic nomination, according to a PPP summary of the survey. Vice President Joe Biden was a distant second choice, clocking in with 16 percent.

The poll of 1,100 American voters was conducted Jan. 3-6, and has an overall margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percent. For the Democratic piece of the poll, that margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent, and on the Republican side, the figure is plus or minus 4.1 percent.